SPORT&SOC IN THE AMER-DIS

What is the relationship of sport to politics, the economy, and social change? The current crisis provoked by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resurgence of the Black Lives Matter Movement have made this question even more urgent. This course explores the ways organized sport has constituted and disrupted dominant understandings of nation, race, gender, and sexuality throughout the Americas. Working from the notion that sport is “more than a game,” the class will examine the social, economic, cultural, and political impact of sports in distinct hemispheric American contexts from the late 19th century until the present. While our primary geographic focus will be the United States, Brazil, and the Caribbean, the course encourages students to examine sports in other local, national, and transnational settings. During the summer session we will focus on three themes that exemplify the ways the sporting realm illuminates some of the pressing problems of our time: the conflicts engendered by the staging of mega-events such as the Olympics and World Cup; the impact of sports on the implementation of Title IX, and understandings of gender and sexuality; and football’s impact on the evolution of masculine identities in the U.S.. Course materials include works by historians, sociologists, social theorists, and journalists who have also been key contributors to the burgeoning field of sports studies.